Executive Assistant Job at The Night Ministry in Chicago

The Night Ministry is a Chicago based organization whose mission is to provide human connection, housing support, and health care to members of our community who are unhoused or experiencing poverty. We've successfully provided these lifesaving services for 45 plus years, everyday providing a lifeline to our most vulnerable neighbors. We serve everyone without concern for race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. With an open heart, we compassionately accept each individual as they are and work alongside them to advocate for their immediate physical, emotional, and social needs while affirming our shared humanity.

As a member of The Night Ministry team, you can look forward to engaging and compelling work, building dynamic professional relationships with staff, volunteers, and our broad base of supporters. While also knowing you are making a meaningful impact on those who we serve. Employees of The Night Ministry come from a wide variety of backgrounds, representing different ethnicities, educational levels, skills, religious affiliations, spiritual traditions, and sexual orientations. Their commonality is their dedication to improving the lives of those who are homeless, at-risk for homelessness, or otherwise under-served. Although not all employees are involved in direct services, everyone is dedicated to the mission of The Night Ministry, believes in its core values, and knows that their work is highly valued.

Position Summary:

The Executive Assistant role provides comprehensive administrative assistance to the President & CEO, including managing a highly active calendar, completing expense reports, composing and preparing confidential correspondence, arranging complex travel plans, and compiling documents for travel-related meetings. This position ensures the CEO's schedule is followed and respected, acting as both gatekeeper and gateway for access to the CEO's time and office. It also involves direct communication on behalf of the President and CEO with board members, donors, foundation staff, and other stakeholders regarding programmatic initiatives. The role requires researching and prioritizing incoming issues addressed to the President, including sensitive or confidential matters, and determining the appropriate course of action. As a liaison between the President's office and internal departments, the Executive Assistant maintains credibility, trust, and support with Executive and Senior Management staff. This position keeps the CEO well-informed of upcoming commitments and organizational issues, while providing leadership in building relationships essential to the organization's success. Special projects for the President, drafting critical correspondence, and ensuring deadlines are met are also key responsibilities.

Additionally, the Executive Assistant serves as the President's administrative liaison to The Night Ministry's board of directors, maintaining discretion and confidentiality in all board interactions. The role ensures compliance with bylaws, including distributing materials prior to meetings. This position assists with scheduling and coordinating senior management meetings, off-sites, and all-staff meetings as part of participation in the Executive Leadership Team, and facilitates cross-divisional coordination of travel and outreach plans.

In the area of communications, partnerships, and outreach, the Executive Assistant ensures the President's biography is kept up-to-date and responds to requests for materials regarding the President and the organization. The role includes editing and drafting written communications for external stakeholders. It also supports the Strategic Leadership team by coordinating the President's outreach activities, following up on contacts made by the President, and supporting ongoing relationships through the creation and editing of acknowledgment letters to donors.

Qualifications:

• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, board members, external partners and donors.
• Expert written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability.
• Emotional maturity.
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of customer/client service and response
• Demonstrated ability to achieve high performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Forward looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent, required.
• Five years of experience supporting C-Level Executives, preferably in a non-profit organization.
• Experience and interest in internal and external communications, partnership development, and fundraising.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Power Point), Adobe Acrobat, and social media web platforms.

Additional Information:

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools or controls. The employee is regularly required to talk or listen. The employee must occasionally drive an automobile and the outreach bus; and lift and/or move 20 pounds.

Benefits: Full-time staff are entitled to full benefits after 30 days of employment, including medical, dental, vision, 401k, and more, starting 30 days after their employment commences.

Our Anti-Racist Organization Statement

The Night Ministry is committed to racial equity in its services, its organizational structure, and its policies and procedures. Given that the majority of those whom The Night Ministry serves and most of our staff are people of color, we must center racial equity in our day-to-day operations as well as in our strategic planning and take deliberate and thoughtful action to become an anti-racist organization.

Through this work, we will identify and dismantle institutional racism that exists within our organization. We will empower staff, clients, and partners with the tools and support to disrupt white supremacy within the confines of the agency and within the spheres in which we operate. We commit to the ongoing, collective assessment of where we are as an organization and where we want to be while formulating and taking the necessary steps to get there. We call upon all members of our community, from staff, volunteers, and supporters to our clients, to engage with us on our commitment to anti-racism.

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